Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science

School: Medical Sciences

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Evolutionary Perspectives on Health and Disease
  • Unit Code

    MMS3101
  • Year

    2015
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus

Description

In this unit, students will examine why the human body is so susceptible to disease and why has natural selection not removed these diseases in our evolutionary past. New intersections between evolutionary perspectives and medicine will be explored as they relate to our continuous battle against infectious diseases, the delicate balance necessary to maintain maternal and child health, the increasing prevalence of mental health conditions, and why humans are one of the few species to live beyond their reproductive years.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Analyse the contribution human longevity has made to human health and disease.
  2. Critically evaluate how maternal and child health is a delicate balance between opposing evolutionary pressures.
  3. Explain the evolution of infectious diseases, how they are maintained across different human populations and challenges ahead.
  4. Illustrate different evolutionary perspectives on mental health.
  5. Justify how the human immune system can respond to hygienic environments by producing disease.

Unit Content

  1. Human longevity and senescence.
  2. Infectious diseases.
  3. Maternal and child health.
  4. Mental health.

Additional Learning Experience Information

The unit will consist of lectures, guest lecturers and interactive tutorials supported by audiovisual material and computer software, totaling 4 hours per week. The lectures and tutorials use peer reviewed research examples examining evolutionary medicine from different populations around the world. In tutorials students work in small teams to present, analyse and discuss tutorial and lecture questions. The sustainable use of resources via Blackboard will be promoted throughout this unit.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
TestMultiple choice question and written short answer question take home tests40%
PresentationResearch topic/journal article summary and oral presentation30%
ExaminationEnd of semester examination30%

Text References

  • ^ Nesse, R.M., & Williams, G.C. (1996). Evolution and healing: The new science of Darwinian medicine. London, UK: Phoenix.
  • Ewald, P. (2002). Plague time: The new germ theory of disease. New York, USA: Anchor Books.
  • Trevathan, W.R., Smith, E.O., & McKenna, J. J. (Eds.). (2008). Evolutionary medicine and health. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Stearns, S.C., & Koella, J.C. (Eds.). (2008). Evolution in health and disease (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Diamond, J. (1998). Guns, germs and steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years. London, UK: Vintage.

Journal References

  • American Journal of Physical Anthropology
  • Stearns, S.C., Nesse, R.M., Govindaraju, D.R. & Ellison, P.T. (2010). Evolutionary perspectives on health and medicine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(suppl. 1):1691-1695
  • American Journal of Human Biology
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, Science
  • Annals of Human Biology
  • Behavioral and Brain Sciences
  • British Medical Journal
  • Evolution and Human Behavior
  • Human Nature
  • Nature
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Website References

^ Mandatory reference


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

MMS3101|1|1

Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science

School: Medical Sciences

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Evolutionary Perspectives on Health and Disease
  • Unit Code

    MMS3101
  • Year

    2015
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus

Description

In this unit, students will examine why the human body is so susceptible to disease and why has natural selection not removed these diseases in our evolutionary past. New intersections between evolutionary perspectives and medicine will be explored as they relate to our continuous battle against infectious diseases, the delicate balance necessary to maintain maternal and child health, the increasing prevalence of mental health conditions, and why humans are one of the few species to live beyond their reproductive years.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Analyse the contribution human longevity has made to human health and disease.
  2. Critically evaluate how maternal and child health is a delicate balance between opposing evolutionary pressures.
  3. Explain the evolution of infectious diseases, how they are maintained across different human populations and challenges ahead.
  4. Illustrate different evolutionary perspectives on mental health.
  5. Justify how the human immune system can respond to hygienic environments by producing disease.

Unit Content

  1. Human longevity and senescence.
  2. Infectious diseases.
  3. Maternal and child health.
  4. Mental health.

Additional Learning Experience Information

The unit will consist of lectures, guest lecturers and interactive tutorials supported by audiovisual material and computer software, totaling 4 hours per week. The lectures and tutorials use peer reviewed research examples examining evolutionary medicine from different populations around the world. In tutorials students work in small teams to present, analyse and discuss tutorial and lecture questions. The sustainable use of resources via Blackboard will be promoted throughout this unit.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
TestMultiple choice question and written short answer question take home tests40%
PresentationResearch topic/journal article summary and oral presentation30%
ExaminationEnd of semester examination30%

Text References

  • ^ Nesse, R.M., & Williams, G.C. (1996). Evolution and healing: The new science of Darwinian medicine. London, UK: Phoenix.
  • Ewald, P. (2002). Plague time: The new germ theory of disease. New York, USA: Anchor Books.
  • Trevathan, W.R., Smith, E.O., & McKenna, J. J. (Eds.). (2008). Evolutionary medicine and health. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Stearns, S.C., & Koella, J.C. (Eds.). (2008). Evolution in health and disease (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Diamond, J. (1998). Guns, germs and steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years. London, UK: Vintage.

Journal References

  • American Journal of Physical Anthropology
  • Stearns, S.C., Nesse, R.M., Govindaraju, D.R. & Ellison, P.T. (2010). Evolutionary perspectives on health and medicine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(suppl. 1):1691-1695
  • American Journal of Human Biology
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, Science
  • Annals of Human Biology
  • Behavioral and Brain Sciences
  • British Medical Journal
  • Evolution and Human Behavior
  • Human Nature
  • Nature
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Website References

^ Mandatory reference


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

MMS3101|1|2